Typhoon Haiyan leaves 1,774 dead, 'hideous' destruction

By Paula Hancocks, Ivan Watson and Matt Smith, CNN

updated 11:32 AM EST, Mon November 11, 2013

A man reconstructs his house in the bay of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, on Wednesday, November 27, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country's eastern seaboard on November 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction, including more than 5,000 deaths.

A man rests on his damaged house along the shore in Tacloban on Monday, November 25.

Road traffic moves past destroyed houses in Palo, Leyte province, on Sunday, November 24, weeks after typhoon Haiyan caused heavy damage to life and property in the Philippines.

A woman rests inside the damaged Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Tacloban, Philippines, on Sunday, November 24.

A woman looks over the devastated waterfront in Tacloban on November 24.

Typhoon survivors walk down a road in Palo, Philppines, during a procession for typhoon victims on November 24.

A vehicle lies in the water in Tacloban on Saturday, November 23.

A man searches through the debris in Tacloban on November 23.

A man scavenges piles of wood amid damaged container vessels on November 23 in Tacloban.

Local people begin to help clear debris near the shoreline where several tankers ran aground on November 23 in Leyte. The death toll from the storm stands at more than 5,000, according to a government-run news agency.

A man clears debris from in front of his home near the shoreline on November 23 in Leyte.

Groups of men clear debris near the shoreline on November 23 in Tacloban.

Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan inspect the damage to their houses in Tacloban, Philippines, on Friday, November 22.

Filpinos clear rubble from a hard-hit area in Tacloban on November 22.

An airplane lands in Tacloban as Antonio Lacasa rebuilds his house on Thursday, November 21.

People carry a coffin through an opening in the wall of a public cemetery for burial in Tacloban on November 21.

A member of the Philippine air force drops relief goods for survivors in Tolosa on November 21.

Children blow bubbles in a destroyed market in Tacloban on Wednesday, November 20.

Workers clear mud and debris in Tacloban on November 20.

A boy climbs across debris in Tacloban on November 20.

People at the airport in Tacloban react to a blast of wind from an aircraft on November 20.

A man walks through water in the typhoon-ravaged city of Tacloban, Philippines, on November 20.

A man sleeps on Tuesday, November 19, on a tanker that ran aground during Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban.

Firemen unload bodies November 19 for forensic experts to register and bury in a mass grave outside of Tacloban.

Firemen unload more victims outside of Tacloban on November 19.

A man fans the flames of a fire in Tanauan, Philippines, on November 19.

Survivors salvage wood next to stranded ships in Tacloban on November 19.

Philippine military personnel carry an injured survivor to an evacuation flight at the Tacloban airport November 19.

People in Tacloban march in the rain November 19 during a procession calling for courage and resilience among survivors.

People play cards by candlelight Monday, November 18, in Tacloban.

A U.S. Navy helicopter delivers relief goods to typhoon victims in Ormoc, Philippines, on November 18.

Men take food back to their families in Leyte on November 18. Countries all over the world have pledged relief aid to those affected by the typhoon, but damage to airports and roads have made moving the aid very difficult.

People are held back as the U.S. Navy delivers aid from a helicopter in San Jose, Philippines, on November 18.

A helicopter flies over a call for help in Ormoc on November 18.

A man cleans up mud inside a church in the hard-hit city of Tacloban on November 18.

A boy bathes November 18 at a Tacloban school turned into a temporary shelter.

Hundreds of typhoon survivors are packed into a U.S. military airplane November 18 for evacuation from Tacloban's airport.

Typhoon survivors run toward a passing U.S. Navy helicopter in San Jose on November 18.

A boy holding a toy machine gun sits Sunday, November 17, on a ship that ran aground in Tacloban.

People gather around a helicopter as it delivers relief supplies November 17 in Guiuan, Philippines.

Filipinos board an HC-130 Hercules airplane as U.S. sailors carry relief supplies November 17 in Guiuan.

Survivors clean mannequins found among the debris in Tacloban on November 17.

A man leans against a statue of the Crucifixion before a Mass at Santo Nino Church in Tacloban on November 17.

A man carries a piece of wood from the debris in Tacloban on November 17.

Survivors wait in line in Tacloban for relief goods on November 17.

A man looks over the devastation from his damaged home in Tacloban on November 17.

A trapped resident braves the dust created by a U.S. Navy helicopter taking off Saturday, November 16, on Manicani Island, Philippines.

Corpses are collected and loaded on trucks to be taken to mass graves in Tacloban on November 16.

A victim's corpse floats on a river in Tanauan on November 16.

A pregnant survivor waits to give birth in a hospital November 16 in Tanauan.

A dead dog lies in front of a house destroyed by the typhoon in Tanauan.

A man carries a bicycle as he walks through the ruins of a Tacloban building November 16.

Survivors of the typhoon stand in a Tanauan street partially blocked by debris November 16.

An elderly survivor walks past toppled cars outside a church in Tacloban on November 16.

A man in Tanauan cleans meat after slaughtering his only cow that survived the typhoon.

Survivors gather in Tacloban to await transport to a neighboring province on November 16.

Men carry a coffin toward a Leyte cemetery on November 16.

A survivor cooks dinner in front of his damaged home in Marabut, Philippines, on Friday, November 15.

Toppled coconut trees dot a mountain in an area devastated by the typhoon in Leyte province.

A typhoon survivor keeps her husband alive by manually pumping air into his lungs after his leg was amputated at a Tacloban hospital November 15. The hospital has been operating without power since the typhoon.

A survivor reacts to the damage at a residential area in Tacloban on November 15.

Typhoon victims are treated in the lobby of a Tacloban hospital on November 15.

Philippine Army soldiers carry the body of a civilian in Tanauan on November 15.

Residents wait to board a Singaporean cargo plane at the Tacloban airport on November 15. Many survivors have converged on the city's airport to wait for flights.

Search and retrieval teams carry a body bag in Tacloban on November 15.

Haiyan survivors carry food that a U.S. military helicopter dropped off in Guiuan on Thursday, November 14.

Dozens of bodies are placed near Tacloban City Hall on November 14 as workers prepare a mass grave on the outskirts of the hard-hit city.

A girl plays inside her house amid the devastation in Tacloban on November 14.

A Filipino soldier hands out bread to survivors in Maraboth, Philippines, on November 14.

A boy takes cover from rain while waiting for an evacuation flight from Tacloban's airport November 14.

Workers arrange bodies at a mass burial site at a Tacloban cemetery November 14.

The weary wait for evacuation from Tacloban on November 14.

A truck lies in the water in Hernani, Philippines, on November 14.

Children play with fallen power lines near a damaged school in Guiuan on November 14.

Teresa Mazeda hangs laundry in the ruins of her Tacloban home on Wednesday, November 13.

Nina Duran searches for belongings at her family's destroyed house in Tacloban on November 13.

Survivors walk through the ruins of their neighborhood outside Tacloban on November 13.

A man sits in front of his destroyed business November 13 in Tacloban.

A family, desperate to charge their mobile phones to search for family and friends, tries to use a ceiling fan to generate electricity November 13 in the Philippine province of Cebu.

An injured man in Tacloban rests beneath a picture of Jesus Christ on November 13.

A man takes a shower amid the rubble in Tacloban on November 13.

A rescue team wades into Tacloban floodwater to retrieve a body on November 13.

Residents take shelter in a Tacloban church on November 13.

Residents make their way through a destroyed neighborhood in Tacloban on November 13.

A boy cycles past a coffin left on a street in Tacloban on November 13.

A man looks at his destroyed home November 13 in Tacloban.

Body bags are lined up in Tacloban on November 13.

Survivors prepare to board a military plane November 13 at the Tacloban airport.

Men walk through smoke as they burn debris from a Tacloban church on November 16.

An aerial view of Tanuan shows signs pleading for help and food November 13.

Soldiers help a woman after she collapsed November 13 while waiting in line to board a military plane at Tacloban's airport.

Survivors wait to be evacuated from Tacloban on November 13.

An injured survivor gets carried on a stretcher before being airlifted from Tacloban's airport November 13.

A survivor begins to rebuild his house in Tacloban on November 13.

Evacuees wait to board a military aircraft in Leyte on Tuesday, November 12.

People walk through damage in Tacloban on November 12.

A young man waits at the airport November 12 in hopes of being evacuated from Tacloban.

A woman comforts a crying relative as a plane leaves the Tacloban airport November 12.

A man sits crying on a packed aircraft in Tacloban on November 12.

Debris lays scattered around a damaged home near the Tacloban airport on November 12.

A girl sits inside a bus as she waits for a ferry in Matnog, Philippines, on November 12.

Police line up bodies for processing in Tacloban on November 12.

People in Tacloban pass debris on November 11.

Survivors in Tacloban board a military plane bound for the Philippine capital of Manila on November 11.

Residents carry bags of rice from a Tacloban warehouse that they stormed November 11 because of a food shortage.

A woman in Tacloban walks amid the debris of destroyed houses on November 11.

People make their way across a flooded street in Shangsi, China, on November 11. Haiyan moved toward Vietnam and south China after devastating the Philippines.

Buildings lie in ruins on Eastern Samar's Victory Island.

Emily Ortega rests on November 11 after giving birth to Bea Joy at an improvised clinic at the Tacloban airport.

People cover their noses to block the smell of bodies in Tacloban on November 10.

Bodies of victims lie along a Tacloban road on November 10.

A large boat sits aground, surrounded by debris in Tacloban on November 10.

People walk past the Tacloban devastation on November 10.

People stand under a shelter in Tacloban.

A girl peeks out from a makeshift shelter in Tacloban.

Typhoon survivors wait to receive relief goods at the Tacloban airport on November 10.

A woman mourns in front of her husband's dead body November 10 in Tacloban.

Fallen trees litter the ground at the Tacloban airport on Saturday, November 9.

A resident passes victims' bodies on a Tacloban street November 9.

People in Tacloban carry a victim of the typhoon November 9.

A vehicle lies amid Tacloban debris on November 9.

People walk past a victim left on the side of a road in Tacloban.

A resident passes an overturned car in Tacloban on November 9.

Rescue workers carry a woman about to give birth November 9 at a makeshift medical center at the Tacloban airport.

An airport lies in ruins in Tacloban.

Astronaut Karen L. Nyberg took a picture of the typhoon from the International Space Station on November 9.

Women walk past fallen trees and destroyed houses in Tacloban on November 9. Residents scoured supermarkets for water and food as they slowly emerged on streets littered with debris.

A soldier pulls a cable inside the devastated airport tower in Tacloban.

Tacloban houses are destroyed by the strong winds caused by the typhoon.

Dark clouds brought by Haiyan loom over Manila skyscrapers on November 8.

A woman carries a baby across a river November 8 at a coastal village in Las Pinas, Philippines.

A resident walks along a fishing village in Bacoor, Philippines, on November 8.

A house in Legazpi, Philippines, is engulfed by storm surge November 8.

A child wraps himself in a blanket inside a makeshift house along a Bacoor fishing village.

A woman and her children head for an evacuation center November 8 amid strong winds in Cebu City, Philippines.

Huge waves from Haiyan hit the shoreline in Legazpi on November 8.

A fisherman lifts a post to reinforce his home at a coastal village in Las Pinas on November 8.

A resident unloads nets off a fishing boat in Bacoor on November 8.

Residents reinforce their homes in Las Pinas on November 8.

The storm approaches the Philippines in this satellite image taken Thursday, November 7, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Workers bring down a billboard in Makati, Philippines, on November 7 before Haiyan makes landfall.

Philippine Coast Guard personnel stand in formation beside newly acquired rubber boats after a blessing ceremony in Manila on Wednesday, November 6. The boats were to be deployed to the central Philippines in preparation for Haiyan.

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Disaster management agency says 2,487 people have been injured

1,774 people are confirmed dead from Haiyan

Another 14 dead in Vietnam and five in China, those governments say

International relief heads for stricken islands, but roads a problem

Anderson Cooper is live from the Philippines with stories of courage and bravery amid the destruction. "AC360°" 8 and 10 p.m. ET Monday on CNN.

Tacloban, Philippines (CNN) -- The Philippines struggled to bury the dead and get food, water and medicine to the living Tuesday, four days after Super Typhoon Haiyan claimed untold lives and flattened countless buildings.

"Right now, we don't have enough water," typhoon survivor Roselda Sumapit told CNN in Tacloban, a city of more than 200,000 that was flattened by the storm. What they can get may not be clean, she said -- but she added, "We still drink it, because we need to survive."

The government's confirmed death toll was 1,774 early Tuesday, said Jose Lampe Cuisa Jr., the Philippine ambassador to the United States. The storm has injured 2,487 more, and displaced 660,000 people from their homes.

Government officials have said they fear the final toll may be as many as 10,000. Corpses -- some crudely covered, others left exposed to the burning sun -- added another hellish element to survival in Tacloban, the capital of the southern island province of Leyte.

A baby receives a measles vaccine in Tacloban, Leyte province, on Wednesday, November 27. Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in history, has affected 4.3 million people in the Philippines, and many of them rely on emergency relief for food and water. See how you can help.

Members of the Japanese Self-Defense Force carry boxes of medicine to be distributed to survivors of typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban on Monday, November 25.

Philippines Air Force helicopter crewmen on Saturday, November 23, look at the damage to the town of Tacloban caused by Typhoon Haiyan.

An aerial view on November 23, shows Typhoon Haiyan victims running and waving at a Philippine Air Force helicopter bringing food to La Paz.

Approximately 400 Tacloban residents displaced by Typhoon Haiyan fill the cargo hold of a C-17 Globemaster military cargo plane on Friday, November 22, 2013. Joint Task Force 505 personnel are conducting search and rescue, supply drops and personnel airlifts as part of relief efforts.

A sick elderly man is wheeled onto a Philippines military cargo aircraft as he and fellow survivors of the typhoon are evacuated from Tacloban to Manila on November 23.

A Philippine Air Force crew member loads aid onto a helicopter at the airport in Tacloban, Philippines, on Friday, November 22.

U.S. servicemen unload relief supplies from an Osprey aircraft Thursday, November 21, in Guiuan, Philippines.

Stranded passengers board a plane in Tacloban on Wednesday, November 13.

Soldiers transport a sick survivor November 13 in Tacloban.

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Soldiers load relief goods onto a truck in Tacloban on November 13.

People in Leyte, Philippines, wait in line to receive relief goods Tuesday, November 12.

Evacuees send e-mails to their family members and relatives November 12 at a free Internet cafe in Tacloban set up by the Philippine government.

Aid workers arrive in Leyte on November 12.

People wait at a bus stop November 12 in Tacloban.

People board a U.S. military plane to evacuate Tacloban on November 12.

People carry sacks of goods November 12 in Tacloban.

A member of the Japanese Disaster Relief Team carries goods in Tacloban on November 12.

Rescuers in Guigang City, China, search a flooded road by boat on November 12. China and Vietnam were also hit hard by the typhoon.

Residents line up to receive treatment and supplies at the Tacloban airport on Monday, November 11.

Staff load a Hercules airplane with equipment November 11 at the Orebro airport in central Sweden. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, together with its humanitarian partners, sent equipment to support the United Nations' relief work in the Philippines.

Philippine troops load boxes of water at Villamor Air Force Base in Manila on November 11.

A man seeking aid paints a message on a basketball court November 11 in Anibong, Philippines.

Villagers in Hernani, Philippines, run toward government officials hoping for food November 11.

A military helicopter delivering food prepares to land at the airport in Guiuan on November 11.

Emily Ortega rests on November 11 after giving birth to Bea Joy at an improvised clinic at the Tacloban airport.

Typhoon survivors line up at the Tacloban airport on November 11 to board a U.S. military plane bound for Manila.

Philippine Air Force personnel prepare to load relief supplies at the Tacloban airport on November 11.

Philippine police commandos prepare to board a military plane in Manila on Sunday, November 10.

A Tacloban resident carries boxes of milk November 10 as he passes by ships washed ashore by the powerful storm.

Residents carry relief goods along the bay in Tacloban on November 10.

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Photos: Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts

The road to Tacloban

Water levels reached the second story

Survivor: Conditions 'worse than hell'

"We have bodies in the water, bodies on the bridges, bodies on the side of the road," said Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross.

Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez said authorities there have confirmed 250 deaths and expect that toll to climb.

"A lot of bodies were mixed up with all the rubble and debris, and we're getting reports also of some houses that were buried. And we see some bodies floating," Romualdez said.

Another 14 people were reported to have died in Vietnam, where the storm made landfall after hitting the Philippines, the country's National Search and Rescue Committee reported early Tuesday. Another four were missing and 81 hurt, it said.

And there were at least five storm-related deaths in southern China, where heavy rains caused flooding, destroyed houses and damaged farmland, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In the Phillipines, troops and aid organizations battled blocked roads to deliver help and search for survivors in the splintered wreckage of homes. Tomoo Hozumi, the Philippines representative of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, said food, shelter, clean water and basic sanitation were "in a severe shortage" early Tuesday.

"The situation on the ground is very hideous," he told CNN's The Situation Room.

The Philippine government reported early Tuesday that 2.5 million people needed food aid, including nearly 300,000 pregnant women or new mothers.

"Our house got demolished. My father died after being hit by falling wooden debris," one woman told the Philippine television network ANC. "We are calling for your help. If possible, please bring us food. We don't have anything to eat."

International aid was beginning to work its way to the stricken islands. But Martin Romualdez, the area's congressman, said authorities need help clearing roads where power lines, trees and whole houses are "literally strewn across the pavement of the highway."

Romualdez, the cousin of Tacloban's mayor, said airdrops may be needed to reach towns beyond Tacloban.

"We can't wait. People have gone three days without any clean water, food and medication," he told CNN's Piers Morgan Live.

"People are getting desperate. There's an exodus out of the storm-ravaged areas. People are just trying to make their way out, and it's causing a big, big jam on the main arteries that are used to get to these people."

Gordon said the threat of landslides and flash flooding further complicated the problem, and said police were needed to guard aid shipments: "Any truck, any helicopter that lands is going to be surrounded by people in need," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

Compounding the misery, a new tropical depression dumped heavy rain on the area Tuesday morning. The system, dubbed Zoraida by the Philippine meteorological agency, was centered southeast of the southern island of Mindanao, moving northwest with top winds of 55 kilometers per hour (35 mph).

Haiyan struck Friday, sending a wall of water crashing into neighborhoods of wooden houses along the Gulf of Leyte and flinging large ships ashore like toys. Its top winds were estimated at 315 kph (195 mph) -- a figure that could set a new record for tropical cyclones if confirmed.

Social media helping in wake of typhoon

Haiyan's track

Haiyan's track

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Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts

Magina Fernandez, who was trying to get out of Tacloban at the city's crippled airport, described the situation there as "worse than hell."

"Get international help to come here now -- not tomorrow, now," she said, directing some of her anger at Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who toured some of the hardest-hit areas Sunday.

Aid pledges began to pour in on Monday -- $25 million from the United Nations, 3 million euros ($4 million) from the European Union, 10 million pounds ($16 million) from Britain and $10 million from the United Arab Emirates, home to a large population of expatriate Filipino workers.

U.N. and U.S. civilian disaster assessment teams were on the scene. U.S. Marines based in Japan worked to outfit Tacloban's shattered airport with lights, radar and other gear to allow it to operate 24 hours a day.

The United States also announced that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and three escort ships have been dispatched to the Philippines to assist in recovery efforts. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the carrier to head for the islands at "best speed" from Hong Kong, where it was on a port visit, the Pentagon said. Two other American vessels, including a supply ship, are already headed for the Phillippines, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is sending emergency shelter materials and basic hygiene supplies to aid 10,000 families as well as 55 metric tons of emergency rations sufficient to feed 20,000 children and 15,000 adults for up to five days. Both shipments were expected to arrive this week, the agency said.

And British Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday night that his government was also sending a cargo plane and the destroyer HMS Daring to assist, he said.

But Tacloban is far from the only devastated area. Authorities are trying to establish the level of destruction elsewhere along Haiyan's path, and other settlements along the coast are likely to have suffered a similar fate to Tacloban's.

"This disaster on such a scale will probably have us working for the next year," said Sandra Bulling, international communications officer for the aid agency CARE. "Fishermen have lost their boats. Crops are devastated. This is really the basic income of many people."

Across the Gulf of Leyte lies Samar, where Haiyan made its first of six deadly landfalls on the Philippines on Friday. Government and aid officials say they are still trying to reach many affected communities on that island.

A similar challenge exists farther west, on the islands of Cebu and Panay, which also suffered direct hits from the typhoon.

Aquinodeclared a "state of national calamity," which allows more latitude in rescue and recovery operations and gives the government power to set the prices of basic goods. Authorities are funneling aid on military planes to Tacloban's airport, which resumed limited commercial flights Monday. As aid workers, government officials and journalists came in, hundreds of residents waited in long lines hoping to get out.

"The main challenges right now are related to logistics," said Praveen Agrawal of the U.N.'s World Food Programme, who returned to Manila from the affected areas Sunday. "Roads are blocked, airports are destroyed."

The need for food and water has led to increasingly desperate efforts. People have broken into grocery and department stores in Tacloban, and local businessman Richard Young said he and others had formed a group to protect their businesses.

"We have our firearms. We will shoot within our property," he said.

Authorities have sent police and military reinforcements to try to bring the situation under control.

Another dire scene played out in the city's only functioning hospital over the weekend. Doctors couldn't admit any more wounded victims because there wasn't enough room. Some injured lay in the hospital's cramped hallways seeking treatment.

"We haven't anything left to help people with," one doctor said. "We have to get supplies in immediately."

Complicating the search efforts is the lack of electricity in many parts of the storm's path.

Meteorologists said it will take further analysis to confirm whether Haiyan -- with gusts reported at first landfall to be up to 235 mph (375 kph) -- set a record.

After leaving the Philippines, the storm lost power as it moved across the South China Sea over the weekend. It hit the coast of northern Vietnam early Monday and weakened as it moved inland. Vietnamese authorities had evacuated 800,000 people ahead of the typhoon, according to the United Nations.

Aid workers said Vietnam was likely to avoid damage on the scale suffered by the Philippines but warned that heavy rain brought could cause flooding and landslides in northern Vietnam and southern China.